Conference Report on H.R. 1540, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, in a few minutes I will offer a motion to recommit that would strike a misguided provision in the conference report that would exempt Tricare network providers from our labor protection laws.

Section 715 of this conference report excludes the Tricare network health care providers from being considered subcontractors for purposes of any law. Section 715 is nothing but an attempt to override pending litigation and long-standing civil rights law under Executive Order 11246 of 1965, section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974.

The civil rights protections contained in these laws have existed for decades, and they've served to protect millions of workers from race, sex, and other forms of illegal discrimination. Large Federal contractors are simply required to have an affirmative action plan to ensure that minority groups are not being discriminated against and that the Department of Labor reviews the records. The law currently exempts employers with fewer than 50 employees who do not meet minimum contract value requirements.

The health care industry employed approximately 16 million workers in 2009. Hospitals and similar entities employ tens of thousands of minorities, women, veterans and low-wage workers, groups that historically and currently depend on the basic assurances of fair treatment. The health care industry is the largest growing sector of employment in this country.

Veterans would be especially hard hit under this change in the law. There are close to 900,000 unemployed veterans in America right now. Despite their unique experience and leadership skills, wounded warriors and veterans often struggle to find meaningful employment in the civilian sector. That's why Congress passed laws, enforced by the Department of Labor, to protect the brave men and women who have served our country.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance ensures that Federal contractors and subcontractors do not discriminate against our veterans, and instead take steps to recruit, to hire, to train, and to promote qualified protected veterans.

Tricare providers, the very people who provide health care to our Nation's veterans, are arguing that they should be exempt from adhering to the very regulations that were passed to protect our veterans. This action would gravely undermine our efforts to employ veterans. These large government health care contractors should not be exempted from civil rights responsibilities that apply to all other similarly situated contractors or subcontractors.

Section 715 is a brazen attempt by large health care industries to overturn pending litigation and exempt themselves from civil rights scrutiny. Congress should vote against weakening these laws, and I urge my colleagues to join with me and support my motion to recommit the conference report.

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